This article is from www.ndtv.com, where there is also a video showing the school that has the same sound track as the text below.
A school in Pune, India is a model example of how to follow a greener lifestyle. It’s not just teaching its students chapters on recycling, but setting an example.
With walls made of plastic bottles, cow dung plastering interiors, roofs of bamboo and straw and pipes for ventilators, the Aman Setu Primary School on the outskirts of Pune in Wagholi is a school literally made out of waste materials of all kinds.
Its aim is to create an eco-foundation for its children: A fundamental lesson in recycling and conservation.
All classrooms have been built using the Earth Bag Technique – sacks filled with a mix of the earth and waste products have been sealed and stacked up like conventional bricks, tied with barbed wire and plastered over with a mix of natural waste.
“By creating a learning space like this, we are bringing children closer to nature. Not only is the structure kinder to the earth, aesthetically satisfying, cool and comfortable, it is also a dynamic learning space. It’s a hands-on experience for the children to know Mother Nature,” said Madhavi Kapoor, founder, Aman Setu.
Staying true to its belief, the students of Aman Setu Primary School are allowed to play in natural spaces instead of designed playgrounds so that they learn about the flora and fauna and how to live eco-friendly.
They are also taught how to turn organic waste into fertiliser and grow vegetables.
If schools are all about laying the right foundation, this place seems to have got it right. Just as we say, – you learn what you live – here the young minds are learning how to live with nature.